Encinitas, Calif. resident and famed pop singe Patti Page dead at age 85
Grammy Award winning 1950s music legend Patti Page died Jan. 1 at the age of 85 at an Encinitas, Calif. nursing home after suffering congestive heart failure, her manager, Michael Glynn, told Reuters.
"She'd been having some health issues for the past couple of years," Glynn said. "She was actually doing better yesterday. I spoke to her and she sounded well."
She was scheduled to receive a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles. Ironically, Indian music legend Ravi Shankar, a longtime Encinitas resident, was to receive the same award. He died in La Jolla on Dec. 11 at the age of 92.
Ms. Page was scheduled to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the February 10 Grammy Award ceremonies from The Recording Academy for Recording Arts and Sciences. Reportedly Page recorded over 1,000 songs in her 60 plus year career – over 100 albums and sold over 100 million albums.
Seeing artists “crossover” between musical genres and music charts is a common occurrence today, it was virtually unheard of in the early days of rock and roll. Patti Page was the first female artist to “crossover” into the pop and country charts. Her hit single “Tennessee Waltz” not only topped the pop and country charts, but also topped the R&B chart…and all at the same time. Singers today consider it a big success when they can top the Billboard charts for a few weeks consecutively; but Page routinely topped the charts for months at a time. Her hit song “How Much is that Doggie in the Window” has been a staple in children’s music for decades.
More than just a singer from Oklahoma, Page not only had her own television show, at one time she had a show on all three television networks – the first singer to do so –; she also starred in a number of films and on stage.
She was born Clara Ann Fowler on November 8, 1927 in Claremore, Oklahoma. Later the family of eleven children moved to Tulsa where a young Clara Ann was working at a radio station when she filled in on a program sponsored by the Page Milk Co. She would later take the name as her own and became Patti Page.
Page began her professional career in 1947 singing in nightclubs in Chicago. Although she had minor success with “Confess”, it was not until she released “With My Eyes Wide Open I’m Dreaming” that Page had her first big hit single. Page created the four part harmony on the song by singing all four parts herself.
Page’s biggest hit song was a happy happenstance; the flip side of the Christmas song “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus”. “Tennessee Waltz” went on to spend 30 weeks on the singles chart and sell over 10 million copies – a feat topped only by another Christmas song – “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby.
Page has earned the Academy of Country Music Pioneer Award, the Women’s International Center Living Legacy Award, and has been inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.
Predeceased by her second husband Jerry Filiciotto, Page is survived by her children Daniel and Kathleen, sister Peggy Layton, 14 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Patti Page hit songs:
”Confess”
”Say Something Sweet”
”So in Love”
”Money, Marbles & Chalk”
”I’ll Keep the Love Light Burning”
”With My Eyes Wide Open”
”I Don’t Care if the Sun don’t Shine”
”All My Love”
”Back in You Own backyard”
”Tennessee Waltz”
”Would I Love You”
”Mockin’ Bird Hill”
”Down the Trail of Achin’ Hearts”
”Ever True, Evermore”
”Mr. & Mississippi”
”These Things I Offer You”
”Detour”
”And So to Sleep Again”
”Come What May”
”Retreat”
”Whispering Winds”
”Once in a While”
”I Went to Your Wedding”
”You Belong to Me”
”Why Don’t You Believe Me”
”Conquest”
”Doggie in the Window”
”My Jealous Eyes”
”Now that I’m in Love”
”OO! What You Do to Me”
”Butterflies”
”This is My Song”
”Father, Father”
”Milwaukee Polka”
”Changing Partners”
”Cross Over the Bridge”
”My Restless Lover”
”Steam Heat”
”What a Dream”
”I Cried”
”The Mama Doll Song”
”I Can’t Tell a Waltz from a Tango”
”Let Me Go Lover”
”Croce do Oro”
”Go on with the Wedding”
”My First formal Gown”
”Too Young to Go Steady”
”Allegheny Moon”
”The Strangest Romance”
”Mama from the Train”
”Every Time (I Feel the Spirit)”
”Repeat After Me”
”A Poor Man’s Roses”
”The Wall”
”Old Cape Cod”
”Wondering”
”I’ll Remember Today”
”Belonging to Somone”
”Another Time, Another Place”
”Left Right Out of Your Heart”
”Fibbin”
”Trust in Me”
”Walls Have Ears”
”With My Eyes Wide Open”
”Goodbye Charlie”
”The Sound of Music”
”2,223 Miles”
”One of Us”
”I Wish I’d Never Been Born”
”Don’t Read the Letter”
”A City Girl Stole My Country Boy”
”Mom and Dad’s Waltz”
”You’ll Answer to Me”
”A Broken Heart and a Pillow Filled with Tears”
”Go on Home”
”Most People Get Married”
”Boy’s Night Out”
”Pretty Boy Lonely”
”Say Wonderful Things”
”Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte”
”You Can’t be True Dear”
”Ribbons and Roses”
”Custody”
”In this Day and Age”
”Almost Persuaded”
”Music and Memories”
”Walkin’ – Just Walkin’”
”Same Old You”
”All the Time”
”Happy Birthday, Jesus”
”Gentle on My Mind”
”Little Green Apples”
”Stand by Your Man”
”The Love Song”
”I Wish I Had a Mommy Like You”
”Give Him Love”
”Make Me You Kind of Woman”
”I’d Rather be Sorry”
“Think Again”
”Woman Left Lonely”
”Hello, We’re Lonely”
”I Can’t Sit Still”
”You’re Gonna Hurt Me”
”Someone Came to See Me”
”I May not be Lovin’ You”
”Less than the Song”
”No Aces”
”Poor Man’s Roses”
”On the Inside”
”My Man Friday”
